South Africa’s premiere gaming and technology convention rAge (Really Awesome Gaming Event), starts today at the Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate, Johannesburg! If you’re in the area (or even out) be sure to make your way down there either today, tomorrow or on Sunday. Why?

Well, there’s a ton of cool stuff on show, including a huge list of exhibitors, real live developers from Ubisoft showcasing their games, a huge showing of Xbox 360 games, (some that haven’t been released yet - Fable II and Gears of War 2!) and a high profile Intel multiplayer competition on Sunday. The 80GB PS3 is also set to be launched this weekend and maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll manage to catch a glimpse of some cosplayers this year.

Not only all that, there’s the NAG LAN going on throughout the three days; if you don’t have a ticket, you get to watch 1800 unwashed, sleep-deprived yet ultimately content gamers battle out an eternal struggle for supremacy in a range of multiplayer PC games - if you do have ticket, you get to *be* one of those 1800 gamers!

Don’t miss it! Doors open today at 10:00 and you can get in for a measly R40 per person for a day ticket, or R60 per person for the whole weekend! Bargain!

Megarom Interactive (Pty) Ltd. has announced their official games line-up to be shown during the rAge Expo at the Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate, from the 3rd to the 5th of October, showcasing games from the world’s top publishers including Activision, Ubisoft and Take-Two.

From Activision’s future releases, Megarom will be showing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Call of Duty: World at War and Guitar Hero: World Tour, while Ubisoft’s titles on show will include Tom Clancy’s End War, Shaun White Snowboarding, Far Cry 2, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway and Prince of Persia. Take-Two’s games, such as Bioshock (PS3) and Midnight Club: Los Angeles will also be shown.

Additionally, developers from Ubisoft, Europe, will be coming down to the show to give demonstrations, as well as two developers from the Far Cry 2 team and one from the End War team. Megarom also has a Guitar Hero III competition planned, which will be running on the Megarom Interactive, MTNLoaded and Xbox 360 stage. For more information on the competition, go here (for the Legend Competition) and here (for the Casual Competition). If you want to enter, be quick about it, as there are a limited number of places remaining.

To see all of Megarom’s upcoming distributed titles, as well as a whole ton more, be sure to get to the rAge Expo early next month!

If you think you are South Africa’s Guitar Hero Legend, this is your chance to prove you have what it takes. Megarom in association with The Lair will be running a Guitar Hero III: Legends Competition at rAge this year.

There will be two competitions on the go, the Ultimate Guitar Hero III Legends Competition and the Ultimate Guitar Hero III Casual competition. Head over to The Lair’s website to enter the Legends competition. The Legends competition is limited to 64 places and with 44 already taken, you shouldn’t delay to get your entry in!

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Ster-Kinekor, South Africa’s distributor for all things PlayStation, has recently announced their intention to launch the 80GB PS3 during the Really Awesome Gaming Event (rAge) in early October.

Ster-Kinekor/PlayStation marketing manager, Yvonne Truter, said, “During the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), in Los Angeles, PlayStation brought out an 80GB model and said there will be no more 60GB PS3s. We will be launching the 80GB model during rAge.”

An open and shut case, then? Not quite. Jacqui Jacobs, marketing and promotions manager at Tide Media, the organiser of rAge, says she’s unaware of any new consoles launching at the event, continuing to say, “yet we do not dictate to our exhibitors what to showcase. rAge is intended to grow the awareness and interest in gaming as a whole.”

In any case, rAge really will be an awesome gaming event this year. If you’re in the Northgate area around the 3rd to the 5th of October, drop by the Coca-Cola Dome to check out a huge showcase of the latest in gaming and technology.

El33tonline has contacted Ster-Kinekor and will let you know more information about pricing and dates soon.

Source: My Digital Life

As quickly as they appeared, tickets for the rAge NAG LAN have been sold out. The bookings for the event were available from the 1st of August and, within the week, 1,800 tickets were sold to the eagerly awaiting LANners of South Africa.

If you had secured a ticket, you would have been treated to 53 hours of non-stop, PC-networked, multiplayer-focussed gaming bliss. Imagine 1,800 computers all connected up to one another! Imagine the multiplayer possibilities! Imagine the fragging opportunities! Imagine the mess! Maybe next year…

You can still go and check out the LAN, sans computer, at the Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate through the weekend of October 3rd to the 5th. If you manage to get to the Dome, there will also happen to be a huge gaming and technology event proceeding at the same time, called the Really Awesome Gaming Event, or rAge. Just in case you wanted to know.

Visit the rAge website for more information.

Every year, for the past five years, the Really Awesome Gaming Expo (rAge) has hosted a NAG Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) LAN. This year, the player count is up to 1,800 gamers, which means 1.800 computers are going to be connected in a maze of network cables, facilitating some hardcore multiplayer action. To participate in NAG’s LAN, you’ll need to buy a ticket.

The problem is, after tickets for the LAN being available for only four days, 1,598 of those have already been bought, leaving a total of only 202 tickets available for players to take part in the games. If you don’t want to miss it, you’ll need to head over to Computicket and book a place for R250, which will allow you to play non-stop for 53 hours as well as enter a Battlefield 2 competition worth R32, 000, sponsored by EA.

This year’s rAge will be running from the 3rd to the 5th of October at the Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate, showcasing the latest in PC and next-generation console gaming, computer hardware and software, accessories, mobile technology, comics, anime, figurines, trading cards, board games, the latest tech gear, movies, music “and much more”. For more information, you can visit their website at www.rageexpo.co.za.

QuakeCon, the celebration of all things id Software, is on right now and they’ve released new footage of a few of their games, RAGE included. While the trailer does show older content, it reveals some new environments and enemies, and also hints at the AI, story and racing mechanics. While it’s only cam-footage, it’s still awesome.

RAGE, coming to PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Mac sometime in an unspecified future, is id Software’s new triple-A first-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world with racing elements and crazy graphical detail included.

rAge is just around the corner and if 53 hours of solid gaming sounds good to you then you won’t want to miss out on the NAG LAN.

The NAG LAN takes places at rAge 2008 between the 3rd and 5th of October at the Coca Cola Dome in Northgate. 1 800 Tickets go on sale at Computicket this Friday, the 1st of August. For R250 you get access to the LAN area and rAge expo for the whole weekend.

Gamers stand the chance to win prizes worth R32 000 sponsored by EA in the Battlefield 2 competition. rAge is no longer just the domain of PC gamers, with the first Xbox 360 LAN being held at rAge last year. Join The Xbox Lounge and XBOX-360.co.za again this year and stand a chance to win great prizes and T-shirts in special competitions.

To celebrate rAge El33tonline has eight six month magazine subscriptions to giveaway, four to SACM and four to NAG. Head over to our competitions page for more details or check out www.rageexpo.co.za for more information about rAge.

The Xbox Lounge and XBOX-360.co.za have teamed up this year to bring the biggest Xbox 360 LAN of the year to rAge.

Last year 25 Xbox 360 gamers took part in the first Xbox 360 LAN at rAge. Make sure you don’t miss out this year, jump in and test your mettle in special competitions with some great prizes and T-shirts up for grabs. There will also be offline leagues hosted by The Lair.

Tickets go on sale at Computicket this Friday, the 1st of August. For R250 you get access to the LAN area and rAge expo for the whole weekend (3 – 5 October).

rAge is just around the corner and this is a heads-up that 1 800 tickets for the NAG LAN go on sale at Computicket on the 1st of August.

Make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to participate in South Africa’s interactive gaming and technology expo at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg from the 3rd to the 5th of October.

To celebrate El33tonline has eight six month magazine subscriptions to giveaway, four to SACM and four to NAG. Head over to our competitions page for more details.

Thanks to Tide Media for sponsoring the prizes.

id Software is going to set the graphics bar again with their new game, RAGE.

Featuring an amazing level of detail, areas and characters have been lovingly crafted by the artists and level designers at id Software, bringing an unprecedented look and feel to the game.

RAGE will feature not only on-foot first-person combat but will also allow players to drive and modify their own vehicles, taking part in races and traversing the post-apocalyptic wastelands.

RAGE will release “when it’s done” and is set to be published by EA Partners.

Legendary developer id Software (responsible for Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake) have inked a deal with EA’s Partner program to bring their new game RAGE to PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and the Mac.

id Software has traditionally been linked with Activision, having published id’s games since before Quake 2, but more recently published their mobile phone games, Doom RPG and Orcs and Elves, through EA.

A massive blow for Activision, but they’ll probably be content with the continued success of Guitar Hero and Call of Duty!

rAge is South Africa’s interactive gaming and technology expo. Now in its sixth year, you can catch all the action at rAge from the 3rd to the 5th of October at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg.

With the gaming industry now eclipsing the film and music industries, it is clear that gaming is no longer limited to teenage boys lanning in their parent’s garages. In fact many publishers and consoles such as the Wii now specifically target both non-traditional and female gamers and seek to encourage the social aspect of gaming which is becoming more prevalent today. The online component of gaming is also increasing, largely due to massive multiplayer online RPG’s as well as the online capabilities of consoles.

rAge is an arena for both casual and serious gamers. Whether you want to participate in Africa’s biggest LAN (which boasts 1 800 gamers playing various games for three days), pick up tips from professional gamers in a gaming boot camp or simply browse the latest and greatest in technology, you are sure to find something to interest you at rAge.

Gone are the days when gaming is limited to couch potatoes. More emphasis is being placed on health in today’s society and gaming is moving with the times. Nintendo’s Wii Fit, bundled with the Wii Balance Board and recently launched in South Africa, is an example of gaming designed to be fun but improve your health at the same time.

If you are interested in PC or console gaming, computer hardware and software, accessories or even comics, anime, board games and trading cards make sure you don’t miss this year’s rAge. Visitors will also be able to take a look at upcoming gaming titles and products on three stage areas. There will also be promotions, giveaways as well as competitive gaming events.

Tide Media’s Michael James commented “rAge and our publications aren’t designed with only hardcore gamers or computing and technology gurus in mind. Obviously, gamers and computer enthusiasts are a core part of our market, but they’re not the only people who are interested in what the expo has to offer. rAge appeals to anyone who’s into the fun side of technology.”

For more information about rAge visit the rAge website. To get a taste of what is in store for you check out our coverage of rAge 2007.

Core Gaming recently launched Wii Fit in South Africa. With the launch tucked securely under their belts, we managed to catch up with The Nintendo Team who gave us the scoop on some dates to diarise.

Mario Kart Wii will be launching across South Africa in mid-May. The latest instalment in Nintendo’s popular racing series has yet to be stamped with a price but mid-May is just around the corner so you better start your engines! The game comes bundled with a new accessory, the Wii Wheel, which looks set to revolutionise your Mario Kart gaming experience.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of this year’s most hotly anticipated titles. It was recently announced that SSBB would be released across Europe on the 27th of June, but until now South African fans of the series have been in the dark as to when they can enter the brawl. While an official release date has yet to be announced, it looks like South Africa will follow the European launch of the game and SSBB will probably arrive in South Africa mid-year.

The question on many Wii gamers’ minds is when the Wii Shop Channel will be launching in South Africa. The Nintendo Team confirmed that it is definitely coming, but it is just a matter of when. Nintendo of Europe is currently working on the stars catalogue, which they hope will be released in 2008. It is going to take significantly longer to bring Virtual Console titles to South Africa but rest assured that it is in the works!

The Nintendo Team also confirmed that they will once again be at rAge this year, showcasing both the Nintendo DS and Wii. With great games like Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the cards, they look set to raise the temperature of the gaming circuit.

Once we get solid release dates and prices you will be the first to know.